Assistant Professor
PhD, Harvard University, 2008
BS, MIT, 2001

Neuronal circuits; sensory coding and synaptic plasticity; neuronal correlates of behavior; olfactory processing

email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , phone (516) 367-8822, fax (516) 367-8866

We use multiphoton imaging, optogenetic tools and electrophysiological measurements to study how sensory systems encode information from the environment, how these inputs are processed at different junctions or synapses of the underlying neuronal circuits and how these representations change with the state of the system and its circuits. The broad scope of this effort is observing how perceptions arise.

To understand any brain area or neuro-circuit, we broadly address the following questions:
1) What are the inputs and how are they represented?
2) What kinds of operations are performed on these inputs as they are transferred among the members of the circuit?
3) How are these operations implemented in terms of the local connectivity, as well as feedback from other brain areas?
4) What role does the circuit play in enforcing particular behaviors?

The olfactory system, particularly the olfactory bulb and cortex, in rodents provides us with an ideal substrate to answer these questions, given their well-defined circuitry, multi-layered organization and robust behaviors.

Please visit Albeanu's Lab home page.

Selected Publications

Dhawale, A.K., Hagiwara, A., Bhalla, U.S., Murthy, V.N. and Albeanu, D.F. 2010. Non-redundant odor coding by sister mitral cells revealed by light addressable glomeruli in the mouse. Nature Neuroscience 13: 1404-1412

Soucy, E.R.*, Albeanu, D.F.*, Murthy, V.N and Meister, M. 2009. Precision and diversity in an odor map on the olfactory bulb. Nature Neuroscience. 12: 210-220.

Petzold, G., Albeanu, D.F., Sato, T.F, Murthy, V.N. 2008. Coupling of neural activity to blood flow in olfactory glomeruli is mediated by astrocytic pathways. Neuron 58: 897-910.

Albeanu D.F.*,  Soucy E.R*, Sato T.F., Meister M. and Murthy V.N. 2008. LED array as cost effective and efficient lighting sources for widefield microscopy. PLoS ONE 3(5): e2146.

Li, Z.*, Burrone, J.*, Tyler, W.J., Hartman, K.N., Albeanu, D.F. and Murthy, V.N. 2005. Synaptic vesicle recycling studied using transgenic mice expressing synaptopHluorin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102: 6131-6136.